Page 4B
By Richard Dumas
torsyth©mymcrnet
The Towaliga Circuit District
Attorneys Office recently
welcomed three new assistant
district attorneys who will be
based in Monroe County.
Carolee R. Jordan, Chris B.
Miranda and Leslie A. Tilson
will work under interim
district attorney Elizabeth
Bobbitt, who is running the
department until district attor-
ney Jonathan Adams returns
in May 2019 from his year-
long military deployment to
Iraq.
Jordan grew up in
Manchester, Tenn., interning
in her hometown’s DA’s office
while attending undergrad
at Middle Tennessee State
University. Jordan then moved
on to law school at Mercer,
where she interned in the
Macon—Bibb County DA’s
office as well. After graduat—
ing, Jordan was admitted
to the bar in October 2017
and clerked for a year under
Bibb County Superior Court
Judge David Mincey. Jordan,
who will work exclusively on
Monroe County cases, was
hired to the Towaliga Circuit
several months ago and will
specialize in felony and mis—
demeanor family violence
crimes as well as misdemeanor
person crimes. Jordan is mar-
ried to husband Zach, and the
couple has two dogs.
Miranda grew up in Palm
Bay, Fla. before receiving
his undergraduate degree
at Florida State University.
Miranda then attended law
school at Mercer and was
admitted to practice in 2009. opportunity.”
Miranda said while grow- Tilson grew up in Michigan,
ing up he always knew he graduating from Michigan
wanted to be an attorney, and State University. Wanting to
he joined a civil law practice get out of the cold weather,
for his first four years of his
career. He then decided he
wanted to be in the courtroom
more, so he clerked for a judge
and then got into prosecu—
tion. Miranda, who was hired
to the Towaliga Circuit last
month, most recently handled
private practice insurance
defense work for Macon
firm Chambliss, Higdon,
Richardson, Katz 8r Griggs,
LLP. Miranda has been mar-
ried to wife Jessica for nine
years, and the couple has two
sons, Mason, 5, and Eliot, 2.
Miranda, who will also exclu-
sively handle Monroe County
cases, will specialize in felony
person crimes, felony traffic
offenses and misdemeanor
property crimes.
Miranda said, “I was down
there at the firm doing insur- that earned the defendant,
ance defense. I enjoyed it, and Billy Jones Jr., a 20—year prison
I loved the people. But with sentence.
two little ones, I was travel-
ing a whole lot. And then I
wanted to get back into pros-
ecution for a while anyway.
And so this opportunity came
along, and it was just a perfect
fit. I’m a Monroe County resi—
dent. My oldest goes to T.G.
Scott. So it was just the perfect
Tilson said she applied to law
schools exclusively within
the south, eventually choos-
ing Mercer. While in law
school, Tilson interned for
the Houston County District
Attorney’s Office and discov—
ered she wanted to become a
prosecutor. Tilson was admit-
ted to the bar in 2016 and was
hired by Adams upon his tak-
ing office in 2017. Tilson, who
lives in Forsyth, handles juve-
nile and accountability court
cases for the entire circuit
while also working on felony
property crimes exclusively in
Monroe County. Tilson said
the most notable case she’s
tried since joining the circuit
was when she teamed up
with Jordan in June to win an
aggravated assault conviction
ar-
m
We
row
we
August 15, 2018“
Three new attorneys, from left to right, Leslie Tilson, Carolee Jordan and
Chris
Miranda, are now prosecuting Monroe County cases for the Towaliga Circuit
'-
District Attorney's Office. (Photo/Richard Dumas)
Monroe County reaches agreement Bikers worried about debris
with Butts on reducing water costs
By Richard Dumas
torsyth©mymcrnet
Monroe County Commission.
ers unanimously approved on
Tuesday, Aug. 7 an agreement
with Butts County that will lower
the amount Monroe County pays
Butts County for water.
Monroe County commission
chairman Greg Tapley said he
reached an agreement with Butts
County commissioners to reduce
the amount Monroe County pays
Butts for its water from $4.90
per 1,000 gallons to $4.30 per
1,000 gallons. Tapley said Butts
County also agreed to increase
the maximum amount of water it
would supply to Monroe County
from 100,000 gallons per day to
200,000 gallons per day.
Tapley said the new agreement,
which he said will save Monroe
County about $30,000 annually,
will be in place for three years,
and Butts County will keep the
agreed-upon rate the same for the
remainder of the contract.
Tapley said the price reduc-
tion came about as a result of his
friendship with Butts County
commissioner Ken Rivers.
“Some people question some-
times our going to conven-
tions and meetings and getting
together with other commission-
ers,” Tapley said. “It’s invaluable.”
In other Board of Commission-
ers news:
o Monroe County Commis-
sioners announced they will hold
their next regular meeting in
Juliette.
The meeting will take place at
6 pm. on Tuesday, Aug. 21. at
Juliette Methodist Church at 69
McCrackin St.
o Monroe County Commis-
sioners unanimously approved
on Tuesday, Aug. 7 to spend
$1,980 on a new air handler for
the Monroe County C.A.R.E.
Cottage.
Commissioners contracted
with Head Heating and Air
Conditioning to purchase and
install the new air handler, which
includes a 10-year parts warranty
and a one-year labor Warranty
By Richard Dumas
torsyth©mymcrnet
a
y,
s-
Boxankle Road resident Joshua Carr urged commissioners
on Tuesday, Aug. 7 to prohibit Monroe County citizens from a:
leaving grass clippings in the road, saying they are dangerous
for motorcyclists.
Carr and two other members of the Forsyth chapter of biker
organization Iron Heart said property owners in some states,
including North Carolina, can be held civilly liable for wrecks
caused by clippings in the road. I,
Carr said, “There have been several cases where people have ,,
actually lost their lives due to hitting this grass at 45, 55, 65 .
miles per hour.”
Monroe County commission chairman Greg Tapley said he
used to ride motorcycles and thanked Carr for bringing the
matter to the attention of commissioners. Tapley said Mon-
roe County attorney Ben Vaughn would research what other
Georgia counties do to prevent grass clippings in the roadand .
commissioners would then decide what, if any, action would be .
taken.
District 1 commissioner Larry Evans said jokingly to Tapley: .
“The reason you stopped riding is (Tapley’s .wife) Fran tripled
yourinsurance.”
INCIDENTS
Continued from SB
Couple arrested after
follow'ng vehicle from
Macon to Rivermist Rd.
A 40-year-old black Macon
man and a 23—year-old white
Lizella woman were each ar-
rested and charged with theft by
receiving stolen property after an
incident on Rivermist Road on
July 25. At about 7:52 am, Cpl.
Jacob Robins went to Rivermist
Road about a suspicious vehicle,
a gray 2008 Nissan Sentra, that
had followed a male 9-1-1 caller
to the location from south Ma-
con. Robins saw the suspicious
vehicle, which contained a male
passenger and a female driver.
The driver told Robins they were
trying to get to a boat ramp, but
Robins replied that there wasn’t a
boat ramp on the road. They then
said theyhadjust arrivedin the
area and were leaving, but Robins
told them he knew they had been
on Rivermist Road for at least
20 minutes since the 9-1-1 call
had come in. Robins then asked
them why they were following a
black vehicle, and the passenger
denied following anyone. The
passenger thgn told Robins their
vehicle belonged to his mother,
but dispatchers determined the
passenger’s mother had reported
the vehicle stolen with the pas-
sengeras the primary suspect
Robins then arrested the driver
and passenger and then searched
the vehicle, discovering several
pieces of mail, a Robins Federal
debit card and a Dillards card in
a small blue box on the back seat.
None of the items belonged to the
passenger. Robins then met with
the male 9-1-1 caller and his male
passenger who said they first
encountered the Sentra at a gas
station on Hartley Bridge Road.
The 9-1-1 caller said the female
driver asked them for a cigarette,
which they gave her as they left
the store. The 9-1-1 caller said
the Sentra then immediately
followed them through Macon
until he made a sudden turn onto
Rivermist Road without using his
turn signal. The 9—1-1 caller said
the driver then made a u-tum
on Hwy. 87 after passing River-
mist Road and turned back onto
Rivermist Road. The 9-1-1 caller
said he turned into a home where
he was working and ran into the
woods to call 9-1-1. The 9-1-1
caller said the Sentra then crept
up and down Rivermist Road
as if they were looking for them
until Robins arrived. Robins then
took the driver and passenger to
the Monroe County Jail.
Barnosville driver
charged with DUI after
Hwy. 4] traffic stop
A 34-year-old white Barnesville
man was arrested and charged
with DUI after a traffic stop on
Hwy. 41 North on July 24. At
about 12:12 am, Dep. William
Miller saw a white 1995 Pontiac '
Grand Prix without a license plate
failing to maintain its lane on
. Hwy. 41 North. Miller also saw
the male driver throw a green—
colored item out the driver’s side
window. When Miller stopped
the car and got out of his patrol
car, the driver then took off
anotha 50 feet before stopping
again. The driver, whose speech
was sluggish and slurred, said
he didn’t know what Miller was
talking about when he asked him
what he threw out the window.
The driver then began to fumble
around inside his car looking
for papers at which point Miller
saw an amber—colored pill bottle
,on the front driver’s seat. Miller
ordered the driver several times
not to remove the pill bottle from
the seat. The driver, who was
unsteady on his feet, then pointed
to a green pill box in the middle
of the road that he admitted he
threw out of the car. When Miller
asked the driver what was in the
box, the driver said he didn’t
know but didn’t want to get in
trouble for having it. The driver
then failed several field sobriety
tests. Miller then searched the car
and found the pill bottle had six
round purple pills inside of it that
were amphetamines. The driver
was then taken to the Monroe
County Jail, where he was also
charged with failure to maintain
lane, violation of taillight require-
ments and littering.
Patrol Road resident
reports neighbor's tree
crashing into vehicles
At about 5:13 pm. on Aug. 7,
a Patrol Road man told Officer
Kianda Pritchett of the Forsyth
Police Department that a tree
had fallen from his neighbor’s
yard onto two of his vehicles
parked in his front yard. Pritchett
saw a very large tree across the
front end of a white Saturn Vue.
She then saw the same tree had
also fallen onto the roof of a red
Toyota Supra, crushing the entire
cab. The resident showed Pritch~ .
ett that the treerhad grown in his
neighbor’s yard on the opposite
side of a wooden fence.
Woman charged with
theft by taking after
stealing from O'Reilly's
A 23-year-old Forsyth woman
was arrested and charged with
theft by taking for allegedly
faking merchandise returns at
O’Reilly’s auto parts store on
North Lee Street on Aug. 7. At
about 1:15 pm, a male O’Reilly’s
loss prevention auditor told
Sgt. David Asbell of the Forsyth
Police Department that a female
employee had confessed to five
fraudulent returns, totaling
$401.67. Asbell saw the employee
was crying and visibly upset.
The employee told Asbell she
faked returns and had used the
money to get food for her son
because she did not want him to
go hungry. The employee said her
husband was unemployed, and
Department of Family and Chil-
dren Services had declined her 1
application for food stamps. The
employee said she was ashamed
“of her actions and'intended to
turn herself in once her son was
taken care of. Asbell then gave
the employee a ride because she
what appeared to be a gun on,
4’2.
was too upset to drive. The em-
Monroe County Jail the following“
day on Aug. 8.
ployee was then booked into the ;—
’.
resident fights with
Union Hill, Apartments ’3'
unknown male suspect].
At about 3:12 am. on Aug. 12, 5'
Officer Terrence Thomas of the
Forsyth Police Department went
to Union Hill Apartments about a
two male residents getting into
an argument. The first resident
said the other resident got up and
started cutting on lights, disturb- l '
ing the rest of the apartment.
The firSt resident said he then
asked the other resident to close A;
the door and turn off the lights
at which point the other resident
jumped in his face, and they be—
gan to push one another. The first
resident said the other resident ‘ '
fell down during the fight and
then got up and left the home.
The first resident said a short
time later an unidentified white
male came inside of his home
and started pushing him. The
first resident said he got the best
of the white male in the fight and
pushed him to the ground. He ‘ i
said the white male then dropped
the floor before picking it back
up and leaving the apartment.
Thomas then searched the area
for both the other resident and
the white male but was unable to
findeither of them. Thomas told
the first resident to call the police
if the other resident returned to
the apartment.
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